An industrial grinder takes in whole items or large chunks and grinds them to form smaller pieces. Industrial grinders can be used to grind whole animals, animal parts, vegetables, fruit, cheese, nuts, or other materials. A grinder plate is a disk-shaped component in such an industrial grinder that includes a plurality of apertures though which the material is pressed. One or more blades typically operate near or against a surface of the grinder plate to cut the material into smaller pieces to aid in pressing the material through the plurality of apertures in the grinder plate.
A grinder plate is removed from an industrial grinder for various reasons including to check the wear level of the grinder plate, knife blades, or other parts, to replace the grinder plate, or to clean out the grinder (e.g., to remove foreign material). Grinder plates may be replaced due to excessive wear or when it is desired to use a grinder plate having a different configuration of apertures (e.g., apertures of a different size and/or location). For example, a different configuration of apertures may be used for different materials to-be-ground or for different desired material size after grinding.
Some grinders have grinder plates that are set deep within a housing. These grinder plates are accessed through an opening at one end of the housing, and are located within the housing some distance away from that opening. The grinder plates in these grinders are typically mechanically supported by the interior of the housing. As such, there is typically no space between the side of the grinder plate and the housing. Since the grinder plates have a flat forward-facing surface with no space on the sides, it is difficult to grab the grinder plate in order to remove it from the grinder. Moreover, there is often suction caused by worked material behind the plate that resists movement of the grinder plate; adding to the difficulty of removing the grinder plate.
In order to release the suction to allow removal of such a grinder plate, the operator is often forced to use one of several methods. First, the operator may start power of the grinder for a short period of time while the housing is opened and the grinder plate and other components (e.g., knife assembly) are not mechanically secured in place. Another method is to pound the plate with a hard object such as a metal bar. A third method is to run water into the grinder to rinse away the worked material from around the grinder plate. These methods take time, present safety risks, can create a mess in and around the grinder, and/or can cause damage to the grinder, each of which is valuable during operation.